Color Me Blood Red is the final entry in director Herschell Gordon Lewis' unofficial Blood Trilogy (after Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs!), and like many of the director's more popular films, this one tells the story of a psychotic killer driven by his obsession to spill blood, usually by the bucketful. What makes Color Me Blood Red different from the others is that, this time out, we witness the lead character's descent into madness, and can even spot some regret shining through as he carries out his diabolical fixation.

Adam Sorg (played by Gordon Oas-Heim under the pseudonym Don Joseph) is a mildly successful artist who teeters on the edge of greatness, yet lacks that “certain something” to make his paintings truly unique. While on a retreat at his beach side home, Sorg discovers the inspiration he so badly needs when his girlfriend, Gigi (Elyn Warner), accidentally cuts her finger on a broken picture frame. Hypnotized by the sight of blood on canvas, Sorg sets out to paint his masterpiece, but finds he must have an unlimited supply of hemoglobin to do so. Spurred on by his desire to create, he now also has to obtain the blood, even if it means finding prospective “doners” who aren't exactly willing to part with theirs.

At the outset of Color Me Blood Red, Adam Sorg is many things: an arrogant hot-head who doesn't take criticism very well, a flamboyant artist who enjoys degrading his live-in girlfriend, and a man who generally loathes others, especially is he has to rely on them for his very survival (he is constantly rude to Farnsworth, the art dealer who regularly displays his work). One thing he is not, however, is a killer. That comes later, after he's mesmerized by a crimson trail of streaked blood, a color he's unable to duplicate artificially. Sorg even tries relying on his own blood for his art (a scene in which he continuously cuts his own fingers is tough to watch) before turning his attention outwards. When he finally does cross that line into murder, it weighs heavily on him. His first “blood” painting is hailed as a masterpiece by art critic Gregorovich (William Harris), and Mrs. Carter (Iris Marshall), a rich patron of Farnsworth's studio, is willing to pay as high as $15,000 for it. But Sorg refuses to sell. The knowledge of what he'd done to create it is far too much for him, and to now profit from his actions is unthinkable.

Color Me Blood Red may not contain as many gore scenes as some of Lewis' other films, but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. Along with a knife to the head and another death by harpoon, Color Me Blood Red gives us a particularly gruesome image, arguably one of the most gruesome in Lewis' filmography: that of a murdered young girl tied to a wall, her intestines hanging out, and Sorg walking up to milk more blood from the entrails in order to finish his painting. It's a bit of grisly brilliance, one that does its part in making Color Me Blood Red the perfect film to round out a memorable trilogy.